On the Home Stretch

We are officially on the home stretch for our Airstream renovation. My hubby is going to be doing blog posts on each aspect of what we’ve done, it’s been so much more than we anticipated doing. This has been a lesson in “people will tell you anything to get you to buy their stuff.”

We were told it would be usable right away. That hasn’t been true at all. We’re disappointed that we didn’t negotiate the price more, there was no way to know all the issues through without actually getting things torn out. We have not tested the heat yet, we plan to mostly use space heaters anyway, but I’m curious if the heat will work.

There are still many small projects we will do once we’re moved in and have more funds available. For now, we’re focusing on getting a liveable space. We’ve moved 16 times this summer and stayed in 4 different cities. It’s been over 3 months since we moved out of the mold & had our lives turned upside down. To be this close to moving in feels surreal. Even before the mold, the renovation felt like such a big thing. After the mold it became an even more intense mountain, we became homeless and need to finish our home.

The last 3 months have taught me so much about my strength, the strength of my family and the incredible power of God. Being on the homestretch is a miracle. The numbers don’t add up on paper, there is no way it makes sense at all that we have enough things and have completed enough for this to be happening with our budget. We have accrued some new debt, unfortunately, but nothing near what we should have accrued. Friends, family and total strangers have shown us love, sheltered us and helped us rebuild. My husband and I are considering writing a book of all the miracles that have happened in our lives in the last few years.

We have quite a bit to do in order to make it our dream home but it’s going to be liveable soon. Writing those words out is an amazing feeling. I couldn’t be more excited. We need to get the kitchen sink installed, get the plumbing tested. (Please pray that it works ok and we don’t have another hurdle, it’s been hurdle after hurdle with this project.) I also need to do a really good deep-clean before we move in. Then we’ll be in, could possibly be within a few days provided everything goes smoothly. We were really hoping to be in by the end of summer, the calendar is ticking away!

It feels equally scary and exciting to be this close to the end. We have literally put blood, sweat, tears and every spare dollar we could muster into this project and into rebuilding our lives. We’ve been married 11 years and had 9 major moves with over 30 short-term stays places. Having a place of our own feels confusing and exciting. I have moved almost every year since 2002. What will it be like to have a place all our own, a place we are customizing to be just how we want it? I can’t imagine. I’m thankful my health is better so I can share more of this journey with you.

Keep your eye on my Instagram and Facebook for pictures. Send prayers, we’ll hopefully be moved in within a week! We could also use prayers for one more miracle- we don’t have anything for cold weather yet. We just have lightweight organic cotton blankets for the bed, one pair of pants and one hoodie each. Winter comes early here, it could snow this weekend actually. We need coats, boots, mittens, comforters, etc. God has given us miracle after miracle providing replacement belongings for us. Please pray for a miracle for those items to be replaced.

The homestretch is just around the corner folks, our tiny living dreams are almost a reality & we’re so excited to share it with you!